GT5 Delay and MoH Failing: Winners and Losers

In case you've been living under a rock the size of Texas this past week, you have heard that GT 5 was delayed at the last second by Sony, with the electronics giant pushing back their uber-racer to some point “before Christmas”. Slightly less important, but probably more surprising, EA's Medal of Honor, which was supposed to give the Call Of Duty franchise a run for its money, released this week to quite tepid reviews. Obviously these two occurrences have altered the way a lot of gamers, and companies, are taking a look at the rest of the year in gaming. With that in mind, here are the winners and losers from those developments

Loser: PS3 Racing Fans

Easily the biggest losers out of the whole situation are PS3 fans who love a good simulation-style racing title. They have been taunted with GT5 ever since 2006 when it was first revealed and at last it seemed to be within their grasp. However, with the latest delay, it was not meant to be. To be sure, racing fans will get the game that they have craved for so long at some point in the future; until then though, they are right back to playing the same waiting game which has become so frustrating over the past four years.

Winner: Activision

If PS3 racing fans are the big loser out of this past week, Activision definitely takes the cake as the big winner. With MoH falling flat on its face, it looks like CoD is poised to maintain its spot as the top shooter on the market for the foreseeable future. Add in the fact that Activision still have a remake of Goldeneye coming out for the Wii later this year, a Bond title due out this November on the Xbox 360/PS3, all combined with DJ Hero 2 launching next week and Bobby Kotick is no doubt licking his chops in spite of the Warriors of Rock’s Sales figures (that’s what happens when you make a bad game in a saturated market Activision).

Loser: Sony

GT5 will assuredly sell by the bucketload when it comes out, but it being pushed back puts Sony in a little bit of a bind this holiday season. GT5 was the only major exclusive which was planned, and it being pushed back leaves the PS3 without any exclusives this holiday season. It won't make much of a difference in the long run, as the latest Grand Turismo title will be released eventually and move consoles along with individual discs. However, now Sony has to be smarting over not having anything to rival Halo: Reach and Fable III for Christmas 2010

Winner: O-Games

We've covered it a little bit in the past, but some of you may have missed the fact that O-Games is coming out with Superstars V8 Racing, a game which claims to bring a full racing experience onto the PSN for $19.99. Superstars is scheduled for an October 26th release, which would have put it squarely in the shadow of GT5 pre-delay. In light of the later release date though, O-Games is no doubt licking their chops at the prospect of capitalizing on fans’ desire to experience realistic racing. Should they deliver on their promises of delivering a full-priced title at a budget cost, the Deleware-based developer could turn out to be the biggest beneficiary of GT5 being pushed back.

Awkward Winner/Loser Position: EA

Yeah, MoH didn’t come close to live up to some of the expectations, and EA has taken a big hit for that. However, before we bring the doom and gloom this holiday season for the publishing giant, let’s remember that they still have one more bullet to fire in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. If EA’s racer can garner good reviews when it releases on November 16th, it might fit a similar spot as Superstars V8, albeit at a higher price point. Hot Pursuit certainly won’t unseat the multicontinental monster that Grand Turismo series, but GT5’s delay should give it a chance to make up for some of what was lost when Medal of Honor flopped.